


Look After You

by BeaBumble



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Superpowers AU, binged it all and was inspired, but i was curious to explore the bits of ideas i had, decidedly not like a man unfortunately, i am dying like a sleep deprived lunatic i guess, i found sanders sides like a week ago, i have no idea what this au is supposed to be, logan & virgil & roman & patton are teens, lots of angst with a happy ending, lots of bonding and stuff because i love this family, no beta reading, so uh take this i guess, they are a family hiding from the evil government?? i guess, thomas & janus & remus are powered kids, welcome to the random musings of my mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24222160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeaBumble/pseuds/BeaBumble
Summary: Three suffocating moments while Logan wasn’t home and one the day he was.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton & Thomas Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders
Kudos: 5





	Look After You

Squatting in a basement is just as exciting as you might imagine. Harboring wanted powered, usually, not as exciting as you might imagine. Virgil (16) would chalk that particular fantasy up to popular movies and their excessive need to keep being interesting by being more exciting. All in all, he was honestly quite thankful that their current situation wasn’t as exciting as he could imagine a million ways it could be. Maybe exciting is the wrong word. 

Exciting would be if it was happening to someone else. If it happened to them it would just be scary. He had too many things to worry about nowadays. For example, as he sat on the couch with a stress ball in one hand, Thomas, an eleven-year-old empath, was laying in his lap, fiddling nervously with the drawstring of Virgil’s hoodie. Remus, a ten-year-old illusionist, was on the other side of the couch, sprawled in various seemingly uncomfortable ways, drool leaking out the side of his mouth, sleeping. 

Roman (17) was on the other side of the room, sitting in an armchair, leg draped over the other daintily as he colored quietly in his coloring book. Well, mostly quiet. He hummed absent-mindedly and riffed every so often, but Virgil didn’t have the energy to be annoyed. Janus, a thirteen-year-old mimic, was not within sight, most likely hiding somewhere within the rooms clustered in the hallway behind them. 

Patton (18) was in the kitchen making several distressed noises accompanied with the occasional clang of metal which could have come from a myriad of things in there. Supposedly making... lunch? It was hard to calculate what time of day it was down in the basement, no service, no clocks, no windows, no open doors, only stale recycled air and apparent safety. That’s what being down here was supposed to mean, safety. But lately, that safety had started to feel like one of Remus’s illusions. 

“Virgil?” 

Thomas’s voice came from just below Virgil’s chest, quiet and tense, his eyes focused intently on his own fingers, avoiding Virgil gaze. Virgil swallowed thickly, bring his other hand down to brush through Thomas’s hair, hoping the effect would help both their anxieties. “Yeah?” 

“Do you think Logan will ever come back?” Thomas’s fingers stalled and his breath hitched, then turning his head ever so slightly to bury his face in Virgil’s shirt. Virgil’s heart sank to the base of his stomach and he started to feel as though the air inside his lungs had heaved out without his permission, wheezing out like air in a whoopee cushion. “I mean, he was supposed to be home two days ago. Do you... do you think that _they_ got to him?” 

Shame swelled in Virgil’s throat. He had thought he was keeping his feelings in check, monitoring it especially around Thomas. But the kid was so damn sensitive. Still too young to control his powers, absorbing every emotion off from others, absorbing them as if it was his own. Logan (19) had explained it much better when they had first found them, at first very obsessed with learning how best to care for each of the kids’ special needs. He was never a very sentimental type, but you could learn to see how he cared, through gestures like that. 

He was a stability that wasn’t here, having left to gather supplies and never coming back as of yet. No contact. They had no idea what had happened to him. And the idea of what could have happened to him, while terrifying, did not scare Virgil as much as the idea of having to go on without him. Virgil’s anxiety was always high when anyone from home left the basement for any period of time, but the fact that Logan was off schedule made the waves of fear and nausea almost unbearable. It was feeling he couldn’t have ever dreamed of coming close to sharing with Thomas. 

Patton then entered the corner of Virgil’s vision, started to kneel beside Thomas, his parental instincts tingling, Virgil assumed. He was thankful he was here, much better with soothing words than Virgil was, who’s mouth felt like it had filled up with rocks. 

“Of course not, kiddo. Logan is one of the smartest people I know, and,” He paused, putting his hand up to cup his lips as if he was sharing a secret with Thomas, glancing briefly between Virgil and Roman, who had just looked up from his coloring book. “You know I know a lot of people.” He whispered. Thomas smiled weakly. “Plus, he is one of my very best friends and I know he wants nothing more than to be home with us. Maybe he had to take a detour home, but I believe he is on his way back. Don’t you think so?”

“You really think so?” Thomas’s voice was small, but hopeful, Patton’s cheery and sincere disposition infectious as it always has been. Virgil closed his eyes, taking a deep breath the calm his own nerves, hoping to contribute to Thomas’s, Virgil’s hand still brushing through his hair.

Patton smiled wide, his tone softer, kinder, his gaze leveling earnestly with Thomas. “I really do, muffin top. And you and me, we’ve got to make sure we keep our spirits up while we wait for him, okay?”

Thomas nodded, taking a deep breath, matching it to Virgil’s. Standing up, Patton tilted his head toward the kitchen, a giddiness in his shoulders that  encouraged Thomas to sit up, at attention. “And guess what?”

“What?”

“I’ve got  piZZA rOLLS !!” Leaning back a little bit like it was a  battle cry , Patton roared as menacingly as a kitten,  both of the boys suddenly popping right off the couch. Remus, who apparently woke up at some point during the  discussion now raced Thomas into the kitchen, laughing  manically as he went, fake mustache plastered to his face. Thomas was right behind him, a small thin blanket tied to his t-shirt like a superhero cape. His spirits lifted, a smile on his face and a laugh in throat, as he attempted to evade Remus’s pushes as they ran to the pizza rolls. 

Patton sighed as the boys  disappeared , turning to Virgil, who started to stand, turning as if to leave the room. “Virgil–”

“Yeah, I know, I know.” Patton reached out to grab Virgil’s wrist gently, the touch halting Virgil in his tracks. He deflated. Shame welled up in his chest as Patton watched him, his eyes always so understanding. Roman’s eyes were  burning holes in the side of Virgil’s face, him having gotten up from where he was sitting, heading himself towards the pizza rolls. He was  disappointed in him. They were both  disappointed in him, Virgil knew it. Still he leaned into Patton’s touch, preparing himself to walk away, hide in his room until he could keep from hurting Thomas.

“He is coming back. You know that, right?” It was  earnest and hopeful and full of so much more than Virgil felt like he was capable in that moment. But maybe it was too soon to ditch all hope. Logan was the smartest guy any one of them had ever know and if anyone could beat the odds and make it home in one piece it was him. And when he did come home, Virgil didn’t want to be the one to tell him he gave up first. But maybe he would forgive him. 

It wasn’t worth it to lie. Honesty was all there was to muster. Relaxing his face, Virgil drew to courage to look Patton in the eye. “I mean, I want to. I really  really do.”

“It’s okay, storm cloud. We’re okay. You and me and Roman. The kids. Try to focus on that, hm?” Patton making Dad jokes during dinner. Attempting to scare the kids with his cat hoodie. Roman kicking all their butts on guitar hero. Attempting to teach the kids  Disney songs without access to the movies. Thomas cutting and taping together a paper crown for everyone. Remus running through the basement, his hands soaked in  toilet water, chasing Janus around. They were okay. They were safe.

“Yeah.” Patton nodded, patting Virgil’s back before letting go of his wrist, turning away to join the boys in the kitchen.

A few moments of silence rang as the mood adjusted without Patton, faded sounds from the kitchen of him and the kids all that was left. Roman, seeming to have gone to get pizza rolls and come back, chewed quietly while watching Virgil. He had a humorous quirk in his eyebrow as he waited for him to collect himself, licking his fingers as he finished eating the pizza rolls he had collected.

“Way to ruin the kid’s day, Virgil.”

Virgil clicked his tongue as he turned around, moving to walk back to his room, giving Roman finger guns in acknowledgment. “Well, you did a real bang up job of cheering him up. I  especially loved the part where you did nothing.”


End file.
